FULL STEAM AHEAD: From Navy to Coast Guard

Navy has been the summer theme at the Marine Museum because of its unique relationship with Fall River, exemplified by the presence of the USS Massachusetts, five additional warships, and a naval museum. Closely related to the Navy is the U.S. Coast Guard which performs such a vital role in our region’s safety. We of...

Navy has been the summer theme at the Marine Museum because of its unique relationship with Fall River, exemplified by the presence of the USS Massachusetts, five additional warships, and a naval museum. Closely related to the Navy is the U.S. Coast Guard which performs such a vital role in our region’s safety. We often take for granted its rescues and boarder patrols for illegal activity. Many of us are unaware of the significant contributions of the U.S. Coast Guard throughout our country’s history.

In the early days of our nation, our economy depended greatly on trade and the revenue collected from tariffs. The Revenue Cutter Service was formed in 1790 to intercept smugglers who avoided payment. The ships, known as revenue cutters, were authorized to board ships at sea or in port with the purpose of inspecting the cargo to determine whether any tariffs were owed.

In 1794, an added mission was to stop the slave trade between Africa and America, resulting in the capture of approximately 500 slave ships from 1794 to 1865. In 1822, it was given responsibility involving environmental protection under the 1822 Timber Act to prevent the poaching of government timber. The School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service was established in 1876 in New Bedford.

While the Revenue Cutter Service was patrolling the shores, the Massachusetts Humane Society was formed in Boston by a group of citizens concerned about the number of mariners lost in shipwrecks and drownings. In 1848, it founded the U.S. Lifesaving Service. In 1888, the Westport Life Saving Station was built at the harbor entrance in Westport Point, housing one lifeboat, the “Westport.” In 1894, it was moved to its present location at Horseneck Point.

In a recent report prepared for the Westport Lifesaving Museum, Rick McNally, a former lieutenant in the Coast Guard, wrote that water traffic was heavy in Buzzards Bay where ships would travel with lumber, granite, raw cotton for the mills, as well as cargo as far away as England and China. Add to that the large number of whaling ships and ships carrying passengers and crews to different locations along the coast. It is estimated that in 1851 alone, 26,704 vessels sailed past Cuttyhunk, an island 10 miles from Westport’s shore. It is not difficult to imagine the number and nature of rescues carried out by the fearless souls of the Westport Lifesaving Station during those days of rudimentary navigational tools.

In 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-saving Service were merged to form the Coast Guard. The city of New London, Conn., purchased land on the Thames River and donated it to the government for the Coast Guard’s use. Cadets began occupying the new Coast Guard Academy in 1932. The Lighthouse Service was merged into the Coast Guard in 1939. In 1942, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard.

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In 1941, the Coast Guard was ordered to operate as part of the Navy. During World War II, they sank 11 enemy submarines, manned amphibious ships and craft, landing Army and Marine forces in every important invasion in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, and patrolled beaches and docks on our shores.

Coast Guard craft rescued more than 1,500 survivors of torpedo attacks in areas adjacent to the United States and saved another 1,500 during the Normandy invasion. Almost two thousand Coast Guardsmen died in the war, a third of those in action. There was no shortage of heroism, with one receiving the Medal of Honor, six the Navy Cross, and one the Distinguished Service Cross. Dramatic rescues off our shores in peacetime are legendary. The Coast Guard returned to the Treasury Department on Jan. 1, 1946.

The Coast Guard’s fascinating history is impossible to describe in a limited forum such as this column. I strongly encourage you to read its history to experience a memorable historic voyage with this elite branch of our military.

Events at the Marine Museum during September feature another fascinating piece of history, one occurring in Fall River in 1892: the murders of Lizzie Borden’s father and step mother in 1892. The trial was nationally reported in detail and glamorized in several books, an opera, play, and movie. The Borden residence on Second Street has even become a bed and breakfast museum.

The Borden murders became a classic whodunit. Although Lizzie Borden was acquitted of murder charges after a jury trial in New Bedford, there is widespread belief that she was guilty and motives and theories abound.

The Marine Museum will be hosting a three-institution event with the Fall River Historical Society and the Claire Carney Library Associates, with special guest speaker, historian Stefani Koorey, author of Fall River Revisited. Koorey is a Fall River historian and expert on the Borden murders. She will share her extensive knowledge on Lizzie Borden, the murders, and the trial that followed. Admission to the program is free. Please call the Marine Museum office to reserve space: 508-674-3533.

The Narrows is holding a street fair on Sunday, Sept. 8. The Marine Museum will be open with Gift Shop Specials. Admission for this day will be free to members, $5 for all non-members and children under 6 free. If you’re not a member, this would be a good time to join. Most events are free to members and the Marine Museum is planning some interesting events.

For example, the wolves are returning in October for another evening of fun. For those who missed them last year, the audience sat in a circle. In the middle, wolves with their handlers walked around and met everyone. Not only were the children enthralled with them, but the adults as well.

We have several membership categories, including student, $20; individual, $30; family, $40. We’re located at 70 Water St. in Battleship Cove. Our phone number is 508-674-3533. Normal hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.

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Phil Hudner retired from Bank of America and lives in Westport, where he was a member of the Planning Board. He currently serves as a trustee of the Marine Museum.